The present invention relates to a weldable mount, and in particular, to a mount adapted to be welded to a base made of a plastics material. More particularly, the present invention relates to a fuel system component adapted to be mounted on a vehicle fuel tank made of a plastics material using a weldable mount.
Mounting assemblies are used to mount a venting valve assembly in a top wall of a fuel tank. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,966,189 to Harris and PCT International Publication Nos. WO 99/27284 to Foltz and WO 00/7309 to Amburgey et al., each of which is incorporated by reference herein. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,907 to Benjey et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,139,043 to Hyde both relate to weldable vapor vent valve systems and are also incorporated by reference herein.
According to the present invention, a vent apparatus is adapted to be coupled to a fuel tank. The vent apparatus includes a valve housing made of a non-weldable plastics material and containing a valve. The vent apparatus further includes a tank mount made of a weldable plastics material and coupled to the valve housing. The tank mount is adapted to be welded to an underlying fuel tank to support the valve housing within a mounting aperture formed in the fuel tank.
In preferred embodiments, the tank mount is coupled to the valve housing by a retainer ring formed to include an annular channel opening toward the valve housing. The valve housing includes an annular upper flange extending into an upper region of the annular channel formed in the retainer ring. The tank mount includes an annular lower flange extending into a lower region of that annular channel to mate with the overlying annular upper flange and trap a flange seal therebetween.